President Bola Tinubu has sent a constitution alteration bill to the Senate, which seeks to establish state police.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced this during Tuesday’s plenary, adding that the constitutional amendment bill will be considered on Wednesday (tomorrow).
Akpabio also stated that the states have agreed to consider the state police bill on the same day they receive it.
The proposed legislation intends to alter essential articles of the 1999 Constitution in order to establish a legal framework for state police throughout the federation.
The action follows the president’s repeated requests for constitutional revisions that would allow states to have a more active role in defending their territories.
Tinubu urged the National Assembly to modify the Constitution to include state police, citing the need to combat terrorism, banditry, and other security challenges.
During his Democracy Day speech earlier this month, the president promised that terrorists, bandits, and their backers would face the full force of the law and that no mercy would be offered to enemies of the state.
Tinubu stated that more than 13,000 terrorists had been neutralized in the last year and that terrorism-related deaths had decreased dramatically compared to prior years.
However, he admitted that the ongoing imprisonment of pupils kidnapped in Oyo and Borno states was a painful reminder of the country’s security issues.
The state police plan has gathered traction in recent months, with both chambers of the National Assembly pursuing constitutional amendments aimed at decentralizing policing authorities to the states.
The Senate is also likely to return today for an emergency plenary session as lawmakers work to adopt the bill and move one of the most comprehensive security reforms in the country’s democratic history.
